Left Behind
by thelastofusellie
Summary: What happened before Ellie and Riley were bit? Based off the new DLC trailer, this fanfiction explores their friendship both before and after tragedy strikes.
1. Chapter 1

**Based on the trailer for the new TLoU Single-Player downloadable content. I know that the 'Boston Mall' most likely doesn't exist, but this whole world, really, is an AU, so just imagine it does. Plus, the ride probably isn't even in the Mall, but I figured it fit with the rest of the story. This is, after all, fanfiction.**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Don't be a baby, Ellie, c'mon."

"It's just that...they told us not to-"

Riley scoffed. "And since when did we start listening to what they have to say?"

Ellie didn't answer, just watched as Riley slid open the window and hooked a leg out. "Are you coming or not?" The older girl asked, raising her eyebrows. She didn't think Ellie would do it - didn't think she had the guts to do it.

But Ellie nodded. She wasn't about to let down the only person she'd made friends with in the past fourteen years, even if she was a bit more wild than Ellie was used to. Determinedly, she followed Riley as she climbed out of the building, onto the metal steps, and past the half-asleep guards.

"They'll never know," Riley stated, her voice confident, but she caught sight of Ellie's expression, "hey, don't look so worried. Marlene will have our backs, anyway."

"You told Marlene?!"

"No, of course not, dumbass. I'm just saying. If we're caught - if - she'll stick up for us."

Ellie rolled her eyes. Marlene was just as strict as everyone else, but she didn't want to ruin everything, and certainly didn't want Riley to think of her as some kid. No. Ellie was going to prove that she could be daring too.

"So, where are we going? Do you even know where we are?"

Riley smirked. "Nope. We'll find out soon enough. You got your knife on you?"

Almost subconsciously, Ellie reached into her back pocket and ran her finger along the edge of the blade, confirming it's prescence. "Yup. Why?

Think we'll run into Infected?" Her voice was relatively calm, but even she picked up on the slight edge it held.

The older teen shook her head. "Nah. But, you know, just in case."

The friends continued their journey in silence until they reached a building. Written across it was 'Boston Mall', however the first three letters were missing due to the heavy bombing that had been inflicted on the building just months after the Outbreak, twenty years ago.

Inside, the place was covered in nature, trees and plants growing across and out of the walls, completely taking over the place. This, however, was normal to Ellie and Riley now - they couldn't even imagine what it had looked like before.

"Think it still works?"

"Huh?" Ellie was snapped out of her small daze by Riley, who was pointing over at something. "What is that?"

Riley shrugged. "I don't know. Wait here." The sixteen year old bounded over to the contraption, pushed a few buttons, moved back, and suddenly the whole thing lit up.

Riley scoffed, and Ellie's attention was once again caught by the bright light. "Huh. No way." She turned around to face Ellie, who was nervously fiddling with her knife. "Ellie!" She called, waving her over.

Putting back the knife, Ellie slowly bounded over, green eyes widening at the - what she now recognised as - carnival ride. She looked at Riley and grinned. "Aw, are you kidding me?!"

"Come on."

The two teens made their way towards the ride, excited and laughing, completely unaware that the re-animation of the ride had caught the attention of some unwanted guests...


	2. Chapter 2

"...People would sit on these things and apparently, it'd ride around for about two minutes before starting up again."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "And people found that fun?"

Ellie shrugged. "It probably was. I don't know, I think I'd like to try-"

"Wait. Shh. Do you hear that?"

Ellie shut up, hearing what sounded like distinct groaning. She swallowed nervously and once again, reached behind to grab her knife. You could never be too careful in a world like this - Marlene had told her that once. "Someone might be hurt?" She offered, always optimisitic.

"Then they'd call out. Surely." Riley's brown eyes widened as two figures came out from the shadows, eyes dead and bodies bloody. "Ellie." She said slowly, grabbing her only weapon, a bat. "Run! Now!"

Infected.

Ellie knew straight away it was pointless to run. She'd heard a few things here or there and by the sound of things, these monsters were fast. Nonetheless, she ran, grabbing Riley's arm and heading towards the exit.

It was too late.

Riley screamed as one grabbed her shoulder, sinking it's rotten teeth into her flesh. Ellie reacted without a moment's thought, sinking her knife into it's neck, making the horrible thing collapse on the floor. The two girls stared at each other for a moment before Riley screamed once more, pointing behind Ellie.

The fourteen year old spun around, shouting and trying to push the Infected away as soon as she locked eyes on it, but it was too strong.

Just seconds later, it got a hold of her arm, biting her too. Riley came around from the other side and swung her bat, a cracking sound echoing throughout the building before it, too, collapsed to the floor with a thump.

"Holy shit! Holy shit, Riley, we're going to fucking die!"

Riley dropped the bat and raised her shaking hand, taking hold of Ellie's arm. The bite was terrible-looking, open and oozing blood. Hers was no different. "This is all my fault." She said in a whisper. "If I hadn't-" She was crying now. Tough, mean-looking Riley was crying. Ellie knew they had no hope.

"I should've convinced you to stay, I should've - God, there's so much I should've done. W-what are we gonna tell Marlene?"

"We won't make it back. You know that."

"But, but what if-"

Her cold, brown-eyed gaze was on Ellie. "No, Ellie. It's over."

Ellie stared at her bite, then at Riley's. It _was_ over. They were going to die. "Then what do we do?"

"We wait it out. Lose our minds together, it'll be all poetic and stuff, won't it?"

Ellie frowned. "This isn't a joke, Riley."

"And you know exactly what Marlene will do if we go back there with these. She'll kill us. She won't think twice."

"What does it matter? We're going to die anyway."

"We don't know that!"

Ellie scoffed. "I'd rather be dead than one of those things."

Riley waited a few moments before answering, now faced away from her friend. "Then you should go. But I'm staying."

Ellie hesitated, but it didn't take her long to decide; she wasn't going to leave Riley alone.

* * *

**Five reviews! I was so happy people actually liked this, I thought nobody would read it. I just really, really wanted to write about these two. I know there's quite a few people saying that Marlene is possibly Riley's mother? But there's no way I'm going to include that if or until we get some kind of confirmation. Besides, this is going to be a short story if I decided to continue, probably 5-6 chapters at the most.**

**Now, onto the guest reviews!**

'Keep going! I don't really like Riley, but that's not your fault.

Now, on to grammar, some of your sentences were really long, almost at the point of run on. Anyway. It's not that big of a deal, but whatever.

I'd like to see what else you write. Are you going to follow the comics? Just wondering.

Good job! :)'

**Thank you very much! Grammar has always been an issue of mine, but I promise I'm trying to work on it. I actually read one of the comics a couple months back, I can't remember much of it but from what I can recall Riley was a bitch. I can't write mean people very well though, haha!**

':D NOT BAD! I don't mind if you write more!'

**Thank you! I might just leave it here depending on the response I get. I have more written but I'm not sure just yet.**

**Also thank you to FreddyandPewDiePieXD, Mermaid-Monster and Stars-and-Peaches. If fanfiction wasn't being douchey, I'd reply personally to you. (:**


	3. Chapter 3

"Marlene told me I could become the leader of the Fireflies, you know." Riley said two hours later.

Already, her condition had detoriated. She was becoming even more snappy than usual, angering at the slightest thing Ellie said, lashing out at her, their situation, the world.

Ellie, on the other hand, felt, dare she say it...normal? Aside from the slight burn in her arm, nothing was different. What did it mean? Whatever it was, it scared her to no end.

"You'd be a good leader." Ellie was sure of it. Riley was strong-willed, stubborn, and annoying at times, but she was also loyal, protective, and smart. Ellie couldn't imagine the world without her. She didn't want to, either.

Riley smiled, which was rare for her. "They're good people, Ellie. You have to remember that. I don't think it matters now, though, we'll be dead in a couple of hours." She paused for a second. "Speaking of which, I have something for you."

"We won't be dead." Ellie argued, but watched as Riley ruffled around in her backpack, bringing out a small, square photo.

"We might as well be. We won't be _us _anymore, and that's all that matters now, right? Anyway, here."

It was a picture of them, taken on a camera Riley had found during another of their exploration adventures. They were both smiling, they were both happy. Well, as happy as they could be in this kind of world.

"Thanks." Ellie said, and she could feel herself choking up a little bit.

Riley smiled again, but it quickly faded. "If...if I turn before you...do you promise to kill me?"

"Why would you-"

"Please, Ellie." Her tone was insistent, serious, and worst of all; desperate. She was no longer trying to make it easier for herself. She knew what was coming and had accepted her fate. Ellie had never heard her ask for anything before, let alone beg. It was usually demands and threats.

"Yeah...yeah...I will."

"You'll make it. Somehow. I know you will."

Those were the last words Riley said to her.

Riley attacked her not long after, and the tears that ran down Ellie's face failed to stop as she brought out her knife and killed her best friend.

* * *

**So yeah I'm a bit iffy on this one, I don't know. I think it's mainly due to the fact that this is this first time I've wrote for this kind of genre, or maybe because we don't know a whole lot about Riley yet but, whatever. I wanted to get something out. I might come back and edit this at a later date.**

**Anyway! Maybe two, three more chapters? I'm gonna try and get Joel in there somewhere, if I can. Also, Marlene will be in the next one.**

**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far, it really does keep me motivated to write more.**

':D MORE PLEASE! Riley do look like mini Marlene...hmmm.'

**She does! Though I looked back at the comics last night and saw that Riley's mother was killed by Infected. Unless they're changing it for the DLC, maybe. Thanks for reviewing!**

'That picture of Ellie and Riley is soooooooo cute! I never read the comics so I don't know much about Riley. Can't wait for more!'

**It's absolutely adorable, and so, so sad at the same time, haha. The comics are actually completely different to this. From the bits I read last night, it doesn't actually go into great detail about them being bitten. I really should've revised the comics again before starting this but oh well. Thank you for reviewing. :)**

'Oh My God! Finally someone wrote the fict for Left behind later DLC! I was waiting for someone to write this in here and finally you came along and gave up this story! Thank you! Thank you! God,I'm really,really waiting for this and I wasn't really expecting but you really truly give me everything that I wanted! Thanks a lot! I love your fict either,it's really cool!'

**Thank you so much for the support, it really means a lot. Half the time, I have no idea what I'm doing when I write, so it all ends up a mess on the page, haha. But thank you. :)**

Sorry for the awfully long A/N.


	4. Chapter 4

Ellie waited. She waited, and waited, and waited. It was nearing twenty-four hours when she realised something up.

She wasn't turning. The wound was starting to heal.

"I need to get out of here, find Marlene. I'm losing my goddamn mind." She muttered to herself, wiping away her tears and standing up.

She looked once again at Riley and leaned down. "I'm so sorry." Ellie placed the photograph next to her.

Ellie stood up then, squeezing her eyes shut so she wouldn't start crying again. At least she won't turn. The red-head wondered if that was all Riley had wanted - not to turn. She'd certainly been a fighter, saving Ellie's ass on numerous occasions.

She felt bad, no, heart-broken that she hadn't been able to return the favour. Riley had more of a chance than her in this world; she was good with a gun, knew how to think, and rarely got scared. The past twenty four hours was Ellie seeing Riley Abel for who she really is.

_Was_.

Somehow, Ellie got back to Marlene's, bloody, bruised, and crying. Showing the bite to her guardian almost resulted in Marlene blowing her head off, but once Ellie explained that there hadn't been a single change in over twenty four hours, Marlene's decision changed.

"It can't be..." She said, voice disbelieving. Marlene grabbed Ellie's arm and pulled her closer, inspecting the bite.

"You're immune?"

Ellie pulled her hand back instantly. "I can't be. No. That isn't possible...right?"

Marlene sighed. She had heard of such things, immunity to this horrid infection, and all attempts at finding a cure had failed, even with the few, scattered people that were immune. "Maybe it is. " She said instead, ideas already coming together in her mind.

Just because the others had failed didn't mean this one would. Maybe Ellie could be the cure. But was she willing to risk everything? The girl she'd brought up, looked after and protected all her life?

Anna wouldn't have wanted this.

But Anna had been desperate for the cure too, not wanting her child to grow up in a world like theirs. It was too late now.

It wasn't too late to find a cure, though.

**I'm sorry for the late update. It's been a busy week for me and I just lost all motivation. Next chapter will be the last and _will _include Joel. **

**Sorry if it's not up to the standards of the others, and thank you for the reviews so far.**


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